Penny Pincher Pinched

[TexasStooge]

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — Detective Fred Mock knew exactly where to find a man suspected of stealing $180 worth of pennies.

David Headrick, 19, was caught dumping about 18,000 pennies into a coin-counting machine at a grocery store Wednesday, Mock said.

The pennies and a couple hundred quarters were taken during a robbery in which an 88-year-old man was tied up with a phone cord and punched in the head, Mock said.

"I got to thinking, `If I was a person who did this, I'd want to convert this to currency as quickly as possible,"' Mock said.

Headrick was held Thursday on preliminary charges of robbery and possessing stolen property.

Police were searching for an accomplice in Monday's attack on the elderly man in which the robbers demanded money to satisfy a $20 debt supposedly owed by one of the victim's relatives. Paramedics said the victim did not need hospital treatment.

[StormCrazyIowan]

What an idiot!!! I tell ya, nothing amazes me anymore!

[JCT777]

That was good thinking by the detective.